+
"A hacker?!" it was Yoongi's outburst that first broke the silence after Crimson's announcement.
Clifford seemed to be agreeing to his exclamation, "I told her already, Yoongi. Why hire a hacker when I'm right here."
"And when I'm right here," his fellow protester noted, "Look, Crimson. I got all the equipment, all the skills and all the patience that it needs to be the best."
Crimson gave the two of them an apologetic look as she smiled sheepishly at the two, "As much as how pristine your hacking skills are, I'm going to need you on the field for this plan. Besides, this hacker knows a lot about Japan more than you do."
Yoongi was obviously far from calming down and Jihee wasn't exactly doing a great job by just rubbing a hand up and down his back. He gulped down a glass of water in front of him as if the scrumptious food that Hoseok paid for was not enough to fill his stomach. Jungkook, who sat by his left, stared wide-eyed at how quickly he inhaled the liquid.
Jimin, the king of questions, raised his hand, "Yes?" Crimson inclined.
"Umm..you said earlier that he's younger than us. Wouldn't that make him less experienced?" he made a good point so the two experts in the room leaned forward, waiting for Crimson's answer.
"Age does not define skill, dear," she took a sip from her iced tea, "Mint has always been proficient with devices for years. Just because he's young, does not mean he can't match up to their skills," said the woman, looking at her two friends from the other side of the table.
They all paused, pondering about what she said before Hoseok asked, "Mint? His name is Mint? Sounds like it could be a dog's name," everyone snickered at his remark except for Crimson who was completely serious.
"Didn't he use to have a dog named Strawberry?" Clifford added, looking at Crimson for approval. She nodded in defeat, knowing that it might make the whole table burst into laughter.
Her predictions were correct as Seokjin also didn't forget to add, "What's with this minty boy and flavors? Does he like to hack ice cream factories and steal from them?"
Crimson could not help but roll her eyes at the childish comment. It wasn't even funny but the others found it to be so humorous which was quite surprising considering how most of the times, only Jimin laughs at Seokjin's jokes.
"You can make fun of him as much as you want but just be careful when you're around him. That 'minty boy' can find out everything about you, your passwords for everything and even your favourite yogurt flavour."
Yoongi and Clifford felt insulted that Crimson was praising some random boy that none of them met. It hurt their pride to witness her proclaiming somebody else as the best hacker.
"We have to watch out for Seongjun's men though. It's not impossible that we will have one on our tail," Crimson reminded them all, relaxing on her seat but still remaining alert. Namjoon stretched his arms, his elbows almost hitting Seokjin sitting next to him who was still savouring his desert.
Namjoon was yawning before he said, "A few of the Rangers informed me of the possible agents that that man have here. War veterans, ex-assassins, Yakuza members--I mean, let's just look out for them like what Crim said."
The wink that he sent to his cousin made Taehyung grimace, showing that he was not comfortable with their exchange of gestures. He was picking on his food, silently looking at the others while his fork rested softly within his hand.
He did not really feel like eating anymore. Looking across him, Jihee was trying to wipe the non-existent stain beside Yoongi's mouth which was probably an excuse for her to touch and flirt with him. If the girl did not look at him after a few seconds, he would've rolled his eyes already. But something else caught his attention.
For a split second, Jihee's eyes shifted else at something behind him. Now, Taehyung was a very observant person and he knew that it would've taken an expert to see through the little slip-up that Jihee made because as soon as he looked through the reflection of the stainless bowl on the table, he could see a Japanese man with long hair approaching from behind them.
He looked around. Several customers were in the place except for them, the chef was at the back with the restaurant's staff. It was dark outside and they were all occupied with the obnoxious conversation taking place around their table. No one would be brave enough to even punch someone from another table, unless....then it will be the perfect setting for a sudden ambush.
Flipping his fork to hold it in a way that he would a knife, Taehyung turned around swiftly, using his instinct to calculate how tall the man was. The fork went for the side of the stranger's neck, Taehyung's attack catching him and even his friends off guard.
The man clutched his blood-spouting neck as he tried his best to pull out the knife he was hiding under his denim jacket. Instead of being able to get back at Taehyung, he fell back and landed hardly on the floor, his blood staining it.
All the people from different tables stood up slowly, inching closer towards them. Taehyung and his fellows craned their necks around, scanning the number of assumed attackers that they have. They were obviously outnumbered.
Everyone inside the room seemed to pause for a moment. Crimson placed her leg on top of the table, her dress sliding down it and revealing the gun holster she had on mid-thigh (they were not even sure how she sneaked it through airport security). The boys felt betrayed to see her carrying a weapon that is not a knife. It was difficult enough for them to even smuggle a weapon with them and yet here she was, holding what could've gotten them in trouble if security found out.
A woman stepped forward and Crimson immediately had her at gunpoint, "Nuh-uh. Unless you want a bullet to go through your skull, I suggest you step back," the stubborn stranger kept going, taking small, calculate steps towards her.
"Why is she not stopping?" Jungkook whispered from behind her.
"It's either she's not afraid or that she didn't understand what I just said earlier," when she caught a glimpse of the woman about to stab her with the knife she had at hand, Crimson pulled the trigger with no remorse. The now unconscious attacker fell to the ground, the red, sticky liquid seeping out of her head.
It seemed like a cue for everyone because the second after the Japanese woman lied limp, everyone was on the move. Hoseok, the hand-to-hand combat expert, jumped on top of a table and began to tackle a man that was clearly bigger than he was. He locked the man's head with his flexible arms and snapped his neck in the process. A very swift kill.
Seokjin was holding a plate and used it to bash against someone's head, causing the porcelain to break. The good thing though was that the person found his head bleeding and the hard impact caused them to faint. From the corner of Crimson's eye, she saw Jimin do a a roundhouse kick that managed to hit a lady's head. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable having to fight a woman but he knew that he had to do it in order to survive. Crimson could not help but be in awe of how his good Jimin's muscle memory was.
Yoongi and Namjoon were at both sides of Jihee, who screamed occasionally when a foreign object flew in the air and nearly hit her. Taehyung was on the other side of the room fighting off someone with his bloodied fork, "There's something on your eye," said her friend. She could not help but grimace when she saw him grab a chopstick and stick it into the person's eyeball. Crimson would never get used to such sight, "My bad. It's just a chopstick."
The person curled up into a ball as he sunk down the ground, deciding whether or not to pull out the unusual object lodged in his eye.
Jungkook fought right beside her, using the greatest of his strengths to either push someone away or send a punch that was solid enough to knock a person down. She, however, was almost running out of bullets. From what she remembered, there were 12 inside her gun and that she already fired about 10 times.
They were clearly outnumbered and there was no other way but to run away. She thought it was strange that she could not find Clifford anywhere but her question was answered when she heard a whistle from God knows where.
Clifford was standing by the kitchen door, beckoning her to come over. There was blood dripping down his forehead, signifying that he did not have an easy time trying to sneak out and find an exit. Crimson looked around, hoping to the gods that the others were looking her way too. She could not bear to leave anyone behind.
Namjoon hit Yoongi's left arm, catching the older man and his girlfriend's attention. He gestured towards Clifford's direction, his smart mind quickly figuring out why the hacker was hiding there. Soon, Taehyung turned around and saw that four of his fellows were sneakily running away. But he was on the other side of the room along with Hoseok, Seokjin and Jimin.
"Shit," he found himself cursing as he grew even tired from constantly being in a fight almost everyday. And he was still jet lagged too.
"Hyung!" he shouted, amongst the screams of those who attacked them. Much to his luck, Hoseok fished out car keys from the pocket of a dead man. His eyes sparkling upon realizing that he would be the getaway driver once again.
They made eye contact and Taehyung took it as his task to pull Jimin away from the fight while Hoseok handled the eldest. Many of their attackers noticed them trying to sneak away when Jimin's elbow knocked a glass of water over from a nearby table and glued everyone's eyes to their retreating forms.
The others used that as a way to successfully escape while their group took that as a cue to run towards the parking lot. As they desperately ran, Taehyung was pulling Jimin by the sleeve of his blood-stained coat while Seokjin followed Hoseok as he nagged the younger about how slow he was at finding a mere car.
"It's not a damn toy car, Hoseok. How hard is it to spot a--you know what? Just hurry up. They're all coming after us!" Seokjin sounded more panicked that Jimin was because the smaller boy was more lost than frightened. He still had to get used to this type of life.
"There it is!" Hoseok shouted in triumph when he saw the rear lights of a white Toyota Prius parked near the end of the parking lot. Taehyung thought that they lost their attackers but joke's on him because only after a few seconds that they find the vehicle, they all popped up from the direction that they ran away from.
The four of them frantically opened each car doors with Hoseok sitting at the driver's seat, Taehyung at the front passenger seat while the two were left to occupy the backseat. When Jimin closed his door, a hand came onto the car's window and scared the living hell out of him.
"Jung Hoseok hurry the hell up or I will hit all your garden gnomes at hour house with a golf club!" it was Seokjin who screamed hysterically when more people started to bang at the windows while Hoseok backed the car up.
"Those are land mines, hyung. They'll kill you before you kill them," the retort seemed to have silenced the elder. Hoseok sped out of the parking lot, not minding that he was stepping so hard on the accelerator. The brakes did not seem to exist anymore.
Taehyung's phone buzzed, showing a text message from an unknown number.
This is Crimson. Meet us at this address.
"I--uh..I think we're being followed....?" Jimin said, more as a question than a statement. Hoseok looked at the rear view mirror and cursed to himself when he confirmed that they were being tailed.
The car swerved a little as their driver tried to avoid the upcoming vehicle that almost crashed against them. It hit the car that was following them instead. However, when they thought that everything was tranquil, three motorcycles turned the street that they just passed and began following them now.
One of the riders held a gun and shot the car they were at, only barely missing the side of Seokjin's ear, "Drive faster!" he shouted but it wouldn't make the situation better anyways.
"Check the glove compartment, Tae. See if there's a gun," the said man did as he was told and truly, there was not only one but two guns that were resting idly inside, "Can you shoot?" Taehyung furrowed his brows but nodded anyways. He hoped his skills were not too rusty now.
"Then shoot."
Taehyung rolled down the window on his side, the sudden gust of the wind becoming quite painful for Jimin's ears. He made sure to not reveal too much of his body that he will become an easy target to the enemy but enough to make it less complicated for him to get a good shot.
Every now and then he would come out and back again whenever someone shoots. Taehyung managed to graze the arm of one rider, causing him to lose balance and crash against a lamp post. But the other two riders seemed unbothered.
Hoseok wasn't exactly driving as fast as he used to before considering how he spent several years being a taxi driver so losing the tail, or maybe even tails, was a difficult thing to do now. He glanced at Taehyung and warned him, "Fasten your seatbelt."
No questions asked. The other two did the same and thank God that they did because upon confirming their safety Hoseok shifted the gear, turned the car around and began driving in reverse, "Is that easier?"
Their followers seemed to have been surprised at Hoseok's move but they still returned to their task of killing them. Taehyung got another and now only one of them was left. The bumps on the road was making it hard for him to take aim and the parked vehicles are also making it harder for Hoseok to continue driving in the same manner.
So that's why when they reached an empty four-way intersection, Hoseok did his special move. Shifting the gear once more and turning back around but this time, he began drifting as he pressed hard enough on the brakes too.
The car started to spin when they reached the spacious part of the street and halfway through the 360 Taehyung got the clearest shot at the person. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger and hit the motorcycle's front wheel which caused it swerve and stumble upon a parked vehicle. The person flew and it was the least of their worries whether he was alive or not.
+
Minutes after, they were all standing in front of the door of a dilapidated house hidden by a dark alley. They all promised to talk about the incident after meeting this certain Mint. Hoseok though, felt like discarding the contents of his stomach because of the stench that he cannot explain. He believes that it was worse than the smell of a week-old corpse.
"Please tell me that I'm not the only one disgusted by the smell," he looked beside him to see Jihee looking very pale as she held onto Yoongi dearly. At the back of the group was Jimin, looking like being in the dark, sketchy alley was a norm in his life.
Hoseok's attention was caught by the loud banging on the door that Crimson made. Her fist was closed tightly as she continuously pounded onto the metal door, not even afraid that it might tick off the neighbours, if Mint even had some despite the horror movie setting that his place had.
"It's me," Crimson shouted, hoping that her voice will be recognized. The red light of the security camera glared back at her so she stepped back and looked straight at it, thinking that Mint was watching, "Let me in, you bastard."
A beep was heard, "What's the password, Miss?" his voice was not too high-pitched or too deep but it was obvious that he sounded pretty young with how polite he sounded.
"Pistachio."
Silence followed until another beep sounded, "That was yesterday's, Ms. Lee. I change it everyday."
She could not help but roll her eyes, "You already know who I am, what's the use of asking me for the stupid password?"
He was really stubborn, "The password, Ms. Lee," Mint stated, much firmer than earlier. Crimson turned around and looked at Clifford, raising her brows as if to expect that he has the answer, "Besides, I have no idea who those people are with you."
A few seconds passed then Mint decided to break the silence once more, "I'll give you a hint. It's your favourite ice cream flavour," the others found themselves arching their brows at the hint, assuming that Mint must know Crimson very well to know the answer to that.
"Bubblegum," Taehyung was the one who spoke up, causing everyone's heads to swing towards his direction. He looked at them, gaze landing on Crimson before he shrugged, "You used to inhale a whole tub of bubblegum ice cream during your day-offs."
Crimson smiled at him and it seemed that Mint heard his answer from earlier so he decided to open the door. The woman stepped forward and pushed the door open further, leading the others into the place.
They all expected it to be dark and musty inside but much to their surprise, the place was spotless which would have been easily noticeable if not for the fact that the huge wall filled with several screens above the lined up computers. From one of the screens was a map of Tokyo along with the traffic information, where the security cameras are etc. It was heaven for both Yoongi and Clifford.
The person sitting in front of the screens was typing as if his life depended on it. He seemed to be really focused on whatever he was doing so when Crimson placed a hand on top of his shoulder, he almost cracked his neck with how fast he turned around.
Mint stopped until he remembered that he did open the door for guests and that he was not imagining that Crimson was really there, "Ms. Lee!" he cried out, jumped out of his swivel chair and encased her in a tight embrace.
Despite being younger, he was significantly taller than her. In fact, he was taller than everyone else inside the room. Mint was like a gentle giant with his baby face that completely contrasted his built. He smiled and when Hoseok saw it, he thought that the boy almost had the same bunny smile as Jungkook.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet the best hacker in Japan," Mint turned around as Crimson began speaking, his angelic appearance nearly shocking everyone. After adjusting his eyeglasses, he bowed respectfully to the older men, "Choi Soobin, also known as Mint."
The others were frozen, thinking that the 'greatest hacker' that Crimson claimed to be was going to be a disheveled gentleman who looked like he has not taken a shower in days. Also, by the way that she said that he was so young made them think that he would look like a little boy. Their expectations were obviously far from what Mint really looked like.
Upon lifting his head, it was almost as if his eyes began filling up with stars and hearts when they landed on Yoongi, his role model. Mint's eyes widened and within a split-second, he stiffened after realizing that he was standing in the same room and breathing the same air as the man that he so greatly admired.
"Are you alright?" Crimson questioned in concern after taking notice of his awkward stance. Mint had his fists clenched tightly beside him as he started breathing loudly. Yoongi, of course, did not miss the gaze that he was receiving from the younger boy.
"Mr. Min! It's such an honour to meet you. Truly, I can't explain how happy I am to see you," it was as if Crimson, his close friend, did not exist inside the room along with the others as he inched closer towards Yoongi, took his hand and shook it like there's no tomorrow.
Mint began rambling about how he dreamed of being like Yoongi and how he was so popular among the next generation of hackers when Crimson did recall how the boy kept on convincing her to take the rest of her team even if it was not very necessary for them to meet right away. Now she knew what he was so frantic about.
"So why are you called Mint?" of course, Seokjin was the one who asked the question.
The boy shyly rubbed the back of his neck once more and mumbled the almost incoherent answer, "I wanted to be the next Min Yoongi."
The said man, his beacon of hope and his icon in life, tried so hard not to blush at the statement. He could not believe what Mint just said and so did Crimson.
"I mean, Min would be too common and it's really a last name. It's also not a very ideal street name so I just sided with Mint because they sound the same and I absolutely love mint chocolate chip ice cream too. I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, I didn't mean to ramble like this......"
Crimson stood there, shaking her head as she looked at the ground, experiencing second-hand embarrassment. Min Yoongi tuned out the younger's voice. He thought it was the best feeling to know that Crimson's best hacker saw him as their role-model. He could not imagine a better way to inflate his ego.
+
unedited.
To help your guys' imagination, this was where I got the inspiration from for Hoseok's 'special move'
And the movie is named Red 2 if you'd like to give it a watch.
Anyways, school started for me and I just want to wish y'all a great start to your semester :D. And as always, I love love love love love love love you all <3